Monitoring of Employers to Protect Jobseekers and Participants of Traineeship Programmes
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the eligibility criteria for the GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) Programme and measures to monitor host organisations to protect jobseekers and trainees. Mr Ng Shi Xuan, Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat, and Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked about audit mechanisms, debarment lists for exploitative firms, and ensuring meaningful training quality. They also inquired if recent retrenchments affect a company's eligibility and how the Ministry evaluates traineeship experiences to support successful workforce transitions. Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng addressed these queries by referring the Members to a combined reply given on 23 September 2025 regarding graduate employment. This earlier response provided the comprehensive details regarding the GRIT programme and the specific issues raised by the Members concerning employer monitoring and training standards.
Transcript
34 Mr Ng Shi Xuan asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what are the eligibility and selection criteria for participating host organisations under the GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) Programme; and (b) whether the Ministry will consider if a prospective host organisation has engaged in a recent retrenchment exercise when determining its eligibility to participate in the programme.
35 Mr Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has any plan to audit employers which use Government traineeship grants to displace employees or serially replace former trainees rather than create new roles; (b) if so, what are the planned audit mechanisms; and (c) whether the Ministry has any plan to establish a public debarment list of errant companies to protect jobseekers from exploitative firms.
36 Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how does the Ministry ensure that Global Talent Ready Programme employers provide meaningful and structured training aimed at equipping trainees for full employment; and (b) what measures are in place to monitor and evaluate the quality of the traineeship experience to support trainees' successful transition into the workforce.
Dr Tan See Leng: Members may refer to the combined reply given on 23 September 2025 on graduate employment and the GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) programme which addressed these questions. [Please refer to "Reasons for Lower Proportion of Fresh Graduates in Full-time Employment and Extent of Help from GRaduate Industry Traineeship Programme", Official Report, 23 September 2025, Vol 96, Issue 3, Oral Answers to Questions section.]